He glanced up from a ledger of financial entries he had been working on and gazed unseeing at a picture mounted above the mantle.
“Kingsley?” His mother peeked around the door of his study without knocking. Before awaiting an answer, she stepped inside carrying a piece of paper, a pair of spectacles perched atop her head. Priscilla followed with a smug smile dancing on her lips.
He rose and made a slight bow. “To what do I owe the honor of a visit from both of you?” In fact, he was happy to see them. Although proficient in calculous and other sciences, his least favorite task was balancing the estate books.
A necessary evil, however, when one wished to avoid being fleeced.
“I’ve decided to host a house party next month, three weeks before Easter. Unless you have any objections, of course?” she asked with eyebrows raised. At the slight shake of his head, she continued, “Do you wish to go over this guest list with me?”
And there went his serenity.
If he were to be honest with himself, he was surprised his mother hadn’t done something like this earlier. For as long as he’d known her, she’d been something of a social butterfly. The manor boasted twenty-three bedchambers. He’d not begrudge his mother inviting a few friends to keep her company before returning to London for yet another Season.
And his wedding. He’d not spoken with his fiancée in months.
Again.
He supposed his mother’s house party could help rectify this.
“So long as you invite Miss Shipley, I don’t imagine I care much one way or the other.”
His mother grimaced but sat down across from him anyway. “Of course, Victoria and her aunt will be invited. It will give us a chance to go over the wedding plans. And then, with a curious glance toward her daughter, she said, “Priscilla has asked that I invite Lord Lockley.”
This was not something he wished to hear. He’d done some asking around, and although no one disparaged the man outright, Gabriel could not approve of the neglect he’d shown his first wife. In addition to that, he was smugly arrogant. The man said all the right things, knew all the right people and yet…
“I think he’s close to coming up to scratch.”
“No.” The word left Gabriel’s mouth before he could think it over thoroughly. That being said, he would not allow the man to offer for his sister.
“You can’t be serious, Gabe! You don’t even know him. You can’t leave the country for two years and then waltz back, expecting to run my life for me!” Prissy had burst to her feet, dark eyes sending daggers his way.
Oh, hell.
“Just because you like how the man looks—”
“I’m not that shallow of a person,” she cut him off.
He turned to his mother for some agreement and she merely shrugged. “Give the man a chance, dear. And if, after spending some time with him, your disapproval persists… unless there is something specific?”
He couldn’t very well discuss infidelity and sexual perversions with his sister and mother. Perhaps Lockley’s attractions would diminish upon closer inspection. Furthermore, an invitation to Gabriel’s mother’s House Party didn’t mean he approved of the match.
“Very well.” But he didn’t like it.
And he’d be damned if he’d stand by while some bounder took advantage of his sister.
Not to mention her sizeable dowry.
“Perhaps you ought to take the time to get to know your own fiancée, dear brother of mine.” Priscilla was definitely no longer the malleable young girl she’d been before he’d gone on his travels. Before he’d left, she’d idolized him.
She’d most assuredly outgrown that.
He simply nodded. And furthermore, she was right. It would be most beneficial for him to spend some time in Victoria’s company. “Duly noted.”
His little sister could not argue with him when he agreed with her.
“Are you certain you don’t wish to examine the guest list?” His mother held out the paper filled with what he knew would be utterly illegible handwriting.
“Any other controversial guests I should be aware of?”
